The following curious case was tried before Chief Justice Monahan at the Galway assizes. Jane Jennings was indicted for stealing several pieces of silver coin, amounting to twelve shillings, the goods of Richard Murphy, on the 14th of March last. Mrs Murphy examined: The prisoner came to the house of the prosecutor – prisoner was a tinker’s wife – on coming into the house she at once pronounced part of the house as ‘unlucky’ and part ‘lucky’; that the reason of the bad luck was that part of it was haunted by the ‘good people’ that she said was going through the country. Mrs Jenning, of course, showed her some money. She took out 10s and 2s 6d, and the prisoner at the bar, when she saw the money, blew on the palm of her hand and swept off the coins and put them into her own pocket. The prisoner also told her that she had an herb that she would give her that would insure the prosecutrix £50 in no time if she paid for this herb which had those wonderful qualities. John Price examined. Is a constable stationed at Athenry, arrested the prisoner on the 16th March; found half a sovereign and 2s in her possession. Counsel for the defendant apprehended that the offence did not amount to larceny. How could the taking of the money to bring this simple woman good luck amount to larceny? The Chief Justice in charging the jury said – I do not think there were such geese in the country as this Mrs Murphy now appears to be. I always understood that a larceny was the taking of goods of another against that other person’s will. There is not doubt that the ‘good people’ were said by this young lady to be haunting the place, and this young woman, downright fool as she was, did hand out 12s. The old lady told her that if the young lady put this most extraordinary herb into her pocket, or when ever she took the 12s from it, £50 would be in that pocket before that day week. Well, I myself don’t believe in fairies; but that is not the question. If this old lady persuaded this Mrs Murphy that the fairies were undoubtedly there, and that she allowed the money to be taken out of her hand, that is not larceny; but if you believe that this woman swept the money off the palm of the woman’s hand and contrary to the will of the prosecutrix, that would constitute larceny. Verdict: guilty. The Chief Justice would not sentence the prisoner until he further considered the case. ‘The Fairies – Stealing’, Nation, 27 Mar 1869, p. 6